There are basically two different schools in the world of bondage. For
our purposes here, we will generally refer to them as Western School
and Eastern School. First we will examine a brief history of each and
then take a look at the stylistic differences.

Eastern School / Japanese Bondage

Japanese rope bondage as an erotic art form,
really is not that old. Many labor under the illusion that it goes back
for centuries, but in reality is only a few decades old going back to
only the late 1800's or early 1900's.

There
are erotic stories however of how geisha or apprentices where bound
after running away, for which they felt much pleasure.

Hojojutsu on the other hand was the Japanese
martial art of using a rope (torinawa) to capture, restrain and
transport suspects and criminals in Japan during the Middle Ages and
Early Modern periods; practiced by the Torimono, but there was nothing
sensuous about it.

Because bondage was considered a shameful
practice, the legal captor in many schools often used no knots or alternate "wraps" allowed
the person arrested no shame. According to Dr. Richard Clever's
translations of law enforcement manuals from the Edo Period in 1998,
there were

Four rules of
hojojutsu:

1. Not to allow the prisoner to slip his bonds.
2. Not to cause any physical or mental injury.
3. Not to allow others to see the techniques.
4. To make the result beautiful to look at.

Torture was used both by officials of the
Tokugawa Shogunate and by individual citizens during the Edo Period
(1603-1867).

We can see forms of these techniques in these
early 20th Century drawings by Ito Seiu which follow.

**Click the pictures to see larger images.

1) Mutchiuchi.

The first practice was "flogging". A far less
painful experience than the rope that was to follow.

2) Ishidaki.

The next method was called "pressing" which was sort of a
kneeling or crawling on a corrugated surface on bended knees while
holding heavy stones on the back or on the thighs.

These first two may have involved rope, the last two techniques of
torture definitely involved rope.

3) Ebizeme.

If the first two failed to get the required confession,
prisoners would be tied in what was called "The Prawn" position.
The prisoner was tied with legs crossed in front. The hands were tied
behind back in a classic ushiro takate kote position, and the person
was finally tied bent over forward with head and upper torsoe tied to
legs. After a few hours in this position the person's whole body
baked with fiery pain. The prisoners body would change
colors first red, then purple, then violet, then pale blue.
When the pale blue was reached the torture ended, after all they
did not want to kill the prisoner, just get the confession they
wanted. The technique might be repeated for a number of
continuous days.

4) Tsurizeme or
Tsurushi-zeme.

The final form of torture was a "backwards
suspension". The prisoner would be tied at the wrists and perhaps
ankles and with arms pulled behind the back, suspended face down.
Heavy stones would be added on the back or shoulders to make it
more painful.

UKIYO-E

The Pictures of the
Floating World

There is an entire artistic genre' that exploded
during the Tokugawa period (1615-1868) known as Ukiyo-e produced with a
technique of wood block printing.

This
was the 250 year period when the
Tokugawa shoguns ruled and Edo became the center of power. It was a
time when Japan purposely isolated itself from the rest of the
world, resulting in the artistic side to their culture exploded;
dominated with teahouses, geisha,
kabuki theatre & courtesans. Many of these pictures were seen in
advertisements, or posters about a new play, or a teahouse. Some of the
images seen were most likely popular actors or famous geisha of their
time.

Originally, this was an art for the common
people, the lower classes. The word itself first refered to the simple
or lowly life. Later it came to mean something like "a transitory life
of pleasure". It was this art form that gave rise to the first erotic
images of Japanese Rope, the Japanese Style of tattoo and Shunga.

They were customized pictures, hand drawn on screens and scrolls.
Woodblock printing goes back to the Heian Period (794-1192) another
time in Japanese history marked by unprecedented peace under the rule
of the Heian dynasty. Culture flourished.

Shunga

Within UKIYO-E for the past few hundred
years images of explicit sexual art surfaced in Japan, generally known
as "Shunga". Images of sex acts both heterosexual and homosexual
featuring prominent genitalia were popularized. These explicit
acts also included masturbation, orgies, etc.

Also within the wood block or floating world art was
where the first images of Japanese Rope surfaced as an erotic form
which was referred to as Kinbaku-bi. One early disturbing image
was by the famous artist Yoshitoshi (Sept 1885) entitled "The Lonely
House on Adachi moor in Michinoku Province".

<<<
Click the image to see enlarged version.

This image (seen at the left) first came
to the attention of this author in Don Angier's video Hojo-jitsu:
Samurai Tying Arts - Volume I, produced in 1988.

It is based upon the Japanese legend of
the "hag of Adachi moor", who drank the blood of unborn children.
In this image a pregnant woman is suspended by her ankles and
gagged while the old hag sits below.

Ito Seiu (1882-1961)

Early Kinbaku Artist and Master, Ito Sieu
replicated this image using his own pregnant wife in photo images in
the early 20th century; which resulting in a huge scandal.

In the late 1900's as the Samurai art of
Hojo-jutsu was outlawed with the Meiji Restoration, more and more
images of rope for erotic bondage purposes surfaced.

Ito became known as a "seme-e" torture artist,
and the "Father of Modern Kinbaku".

The Evolution of a Sensual Art
Form:

In time the Japanese art form evolved and became
generally characterized by:

(1) Rendering of the captive powerless and
helpless which was combined with other very Asian concepts.

(2) The aesthetic aspect.
Most are well aware of
the significance that beauty has in Japanese culture. As in the
presentation of the flower the captive is presented as beautiful
art. Not unlike Ikebana the art of flower arranging in such a
manner to incorporate the beauty of simplicity in a natural
setting.

(3) Add to those the idea of erotic feeling of the ropes embracing the skin.
Some claim to incorporate the ancient oriental healing systems using
pressure points, thus the practices of acupressure and acupuncture.
Using ropes and knots to massage those pressure points is a third
facet. What I have learned from my contacts in Japan is that this is
largely myth, however erotic touch is nice sensual component that can
be used with rope.

There is a fourth facet to this diamond we know
as Japanese Bondage.

(4) Time. Stillness, beauty, erotic massage and
time, as the Asian perceives it... and you have the modern Japanese
styled bondage as we know it. Bondage takes time and patience. (like
growing of bonsai). The submissive experiences the inner soul, the
beauty as she relaxes and focuses on her inner pleasure in the
experience. On the inside there may be a peace, but on the outside
their can also be struggle. Japan is historically is a "shame culture",
and this is often expressed in the outward movements and expressions
seen in the face of the m-jo.

Japanese Bondage sometimes features tighter
bondage, and would commonly use a rougher natural fiber rope.

Yet struggle is not always desired, often total
stillness evokes an erotic meditative journey of pleasure can be taken.

Emphasis is on the mind. Notice the serene look
on the faces of Japanese bondage models. She is not an unwilling
captive; she may act like she overwhelmed with shame or fear, but in reality is a willing
participant embracing the moment and it's sensual pleasure. There is an introspection, a soul stillness if you will.
The emphasis is on beauty and art, breathing and meditation. It is a
decorative and sensual art.

Within Japanese Bondage there are at least two
different practices:

A. The traditional Sado-masochistic approach
which was handed down from the torturous practices of the Edo period is
a harsh form and emphasizes pain, suffering, humiliation and the
bondage itself is the basic goal. Pleasure or erotic stimulation is a
byproduct of this basic goal. No one has to tell you that the Asian
culture historically have been masters at the art of cruel torture
techniques. Remember "Chinese Water Torture?" drip drip drip.... until
one is driven mad. Often accompanying this type of bondage are
techniques like nose torture, tit torture, hair bondage, candle waxing,
pushing pressure points and the use of bamboo clamps.

B. A second and yet modern practice has as its
main goal sensuous or erotic stimulation. The Japanese have always been
an odd confusing mixture of the ugly, torturous and the beautiful and
artistic. With this sensuous form the key for the submissive is to
use her mind to achieve pleasure. By binding her, she is forced
into stillness and stimulating her body specifically with various
sensuous touch or massaging shiatsu pressure points over long periods
of time, or pushing the body's own natural energy paths; the mind
is stimulated to unimaginable places. To the westerner this may sound
hoaky, but by allowing your captive time in bondage her mind begins to
meditatively travel into the deep recesses of her inner self. The goal
of this journey is the release of the body's pleasure sensors, natural
endorphins if you will, the goal being to achieve a natural orgasmic
high. The Japanese call this "Ky or Ki or Chi", which is simply
concentrating mental and physical energy on one area of the body.
The use of floggers, canes, any corporal implements etc would be
considered an interruption to the goal of this form of Japanese bondage.

Kinbaku - Shibari

Known as "kinbaku" (tight binding / bondage) in Japan; in the west Japanese styled bondage began to be
referred to as "Shibari" in the late 1900's. Westerners misappropriated the verb "Shibaru" , which means "to
tie", and made it into a noun to describe the art of tying.

The Japanese do not call the art "Shibari", they call it Kinbaku.

This new Japanese Erotic Rope Art was seen in
certain bondage clubs and comics (Manga) in the later half of the 20th
century in Japan. This new Kinbaku / Shibari is generally characterized
by the following:

* Ties are roughly based upon some historic
Hojojutsu forms done with the devotion and development of skill as in
any martial art.

The earliest known reference to the use of
rope for anything that resembles erotic purposes that I have been able
to find in western culture is contained in the pre-Medieval German /
Austrian poetic saga "Brunhilde".

This story is told in an Austrian poem
titled "Nibelungenlied" (1200 A.D.) about events that in legend
happened some 800 years earlier around the 1st Century A.D.

In the story the the Warrior Queen of Iceland, Brunhilde, a
powerful woman who ruled alone was pursued by King Gunther of Germany,
who desired a wife worthy of his status.

After defeating Gunther in various contests, she
finally lost a contest to Sifrit, who was supposed to be Gunther's
vassal, but in reality was his brother-in-law; and Brunhilde
declared Gunther her King. She however had vowed to remain a
virgin until certain matters had been resolved. While Gunther was
making his moves, Brunhilde, tied him up with the sash of her robe,
leaving him unsatisfied.

Gunther sought assistance from his brother in
law, Sifrit, and the next night in the dark they subdued her. While
trying to use her own braided silk sash she caught her own wrist, and
Sifrit, tied her, and Gunther deflowered his virgin wife. Essentially
it was an act of marital rape, erotic only in the eyes of some.

With the loss of her virginity, she lost her
strength and power, and became submissive in every way to her husband.

There are several versions of this saga floating
around.

The picture to the right shows a pencil drawing
from 1807 of the story taken from the Niebelung Saga (X, 648-50).

Late 1800's in France

Charles Francois Jeandel

In
the late 1800's Charles Francois Jeandel perhaps was the first to do
bondage photography in the west, perhaps in the world. Here are a few
examples of his work:

John Willie
(John Alexander Scott Coutts)

(December 9,
1902 - August 5, 1962)

John
Alexander Scott Coutts was an Englishman who would later go by the name
of John Willie. He had an enormous part in bringing bondage and fetish
images to the west via is drawings and photography. He worked for the
British Intelligence Service. He then lived in in Austrlia from circa
1925 to1945.

Around 1945 is when he moved to New York City
and began sporatically publishing 20 issues of "Bizarre Magazine" (1946
-1959) which featured his fetish and bondage art. It was at this time
he began using the name John Willie.

Some believe that while he was in Australia and traveling the Asian
Pacific rim countries that he came under the influence of the Japanese
erotic bondage artists such as Ito Sieu and others in the early 20th
century. He then combined those bondage images with his western fetish
style of drawing.

This has been disputed however by Belier Press
which inherited the rights to John Willie's works. It is acknowledged
however that he recieved magazines reportedly from a US Air Force
physician circa 1958-59.

It has also be noted that there was some
relationship, as a number of his Willie's images appeared in Japanese
Magazines in the 1950's & 60's.

After it was revealed that he had a brain tumor,
John Willie destroyed his archives and moved back to England in 1961
where he died.

Pin-ups To Nose Art

In the 1940's and 50's the "pin-up" image
stormed into the western consciousness from the World War II era when
Hollywood actresses, most notably Bettie Grable, whose images were
circulated among the GI's as encouragement and inspiration, to stir
memories of home and something to fight for.

The "pin up" genre in art can actually be traced back to the late
1800's.

Another noticeable practice in the use of the
pin up at that time was what we know as "nose art". This was the
practice of painting pinups on the nose of military aircraft. One of
the most popular artists that was used was Alberto Vargas.

Image by Vargas

Bettie Page - Irving Klaw

Then after World War II, Bettie Page a secretary
by trade and
aspiring actress, worked as a pin-up model in New York City.
She would become the person perhaps most responsible for liberating the
sexual minds of many westerners with her ground breaking bondage and
fetish modeling in the 1950's.

New York fetish photographer, Irving Klaw and his
sister Paula (Klaw) Taylor or Kramer ? brought images of Page to
the public which ultimately had perhaps the greatest impact on bringing
bondage to the western world.

Klaw's family business, "The Movie Star
News" would develop an under the table sideline business of pin-up
model pictures. Klaw had become know as the "King of Pinup". Some
of his well known

models were burlesque performers, Blaze Starr
and Tempest Storm. Customer demand for more kinkier images, led to
bondage images and films using Bettie Page who would become his
"bondage queen".

It could be argued that if Bettie had not done the
bondage modeling for Klaw, she may have only been another of hundreds
or thousands of pin up models from that era. It was the bondage images
that made her the cult queen she is today.

Page modeled during the McCarthy era of
the 1950's, in the side show / peep show New York industry. The moral
crusaders catapulted Bettie to the public eye thanks to a senator from
Bettie Page's home state of Tennessee who organized a senate committee
to investigate "juvenile delinquency".

Carey Estes Kefauver
During the notorious "McCarthy" era, Senator Carey Estes Kefauver
(Democrat from Tennessee and presidential hopeful) would lead the
crusade to investigate the exploitation of the American Worker by the
Mafia. Around 1955 his crusade morphed into a "Senate Subcommittee on
Juvenile Delinquency" (with a young attorney, Robert Kennedy on his
staff). Robert Kennedy was actually on McCarthy's staff for a few
months, but resigned when it became apparent that McCarthy's anti
Communist campaign revealed a image that was not good for his career.
Kefauver would subpoenaed Irving Klaw and his sister Paula to testify
before this committee. Irving would plead the 5th to all questions.

It has been
reported that Bettie Page was also supoenaed and was present for the
hearings to testify, but was never never called to testify. This is in
dispute, although it was represented that way in the movie: "The
Notorious Bettie Page".

Out of fear of
prosecution and jail, the investigations brought Klaw's business to an
end. In a panic, he destroyed about three-fourth of his inventory of
negatives, but sister Paula secretly kept and hid away the rest, and
history is thankful for her foresight and actions. Bettie's modeling
career closed out about that time.

However, as with
most moral or puritanical crusades by politicians, these hearings only
served to publicize the bondage world far more than if things had just
been left alone.

Irving would die
in 1966 of a ruptured appendix.

Lili St. Cry

(Click on image to enlarge)
Also doing a couple of shoots with Klaw was the "Queen of Burlesque",
Lili St. Cyr (1918-1999). She is know today as the performer who
took Burlesque from it's low class sleazy bar image to a classy art
form. She performed in Klaw film classics with Bettie Page, Striporama
and Varietease. Although not successful in mainstream motion pictures,
it was Howard Hughes in 1955 that got her a role in a major film, "Son
of Sinbad". She is however not known to have done any bondage. Her
signature show was called "The Flying G", where at the close of a
performance just as the light went off, her g-string would fly off
and up into the balcony.

Detective Magazines

Western Bondage was further popularized in US by the
Detective Magazines and what we refer to as the old cult bondage movies.

These magazine images solidified the focus
in western bondage as doing something to the captive as opposed to
Japanese style where the emphasis is on the bondage experience itself.

Image (C) BedroomBondage.com and Open Mind Media
"Permission to repost on this page only".

The models are Catherine Beaumont, Eric
Holman, and Lorelei. The photography was by Eric Holman and Lorelei.

Western Style &
Characteristics

Western, generally features a bondage using
softer ropes {*mmmmph....gags}. Struggling, sensual moans, etc.
are key elements in the mutual pleasure of all participants.

The words "captor" and "captive" are often used
rather that Dominant, Master, submissive or slave. In fact many
who are into bondage do not relate to the modern BDSM movement at all.
Ladies (or men) who fantasize {emphasis on fantasy... this is a
consensual activity} being overpowered, forced etc.... love this style
of bondage.

In some cases it may be used to help the captive
cross a barrier such as dealing with issues of "shame" related to sex,
or being introduced to a new activity such anal sex or
having pubic hair shaved. Or it may help the submissive feel safe
enough to find the serenity of her subspace.

Rope Bondage play among consenting adults gained
popularity in late 20th century in the west, largely due to the
combination of the culturally ingrained sexual repression of
American puritanical society, where often pleasure is seen as sinful,
or slutty or shameful unless it is done as the religionists define,
which is generally for procreation not pleasure. Add also the media
obsession with sexual images in advertising and we have a society with
enough mixed messages to drive anyone to the counselor's chair.

This is the same mentality that has made romance
novels the #1 sellers in this country. Visions of a powerful man
swooping a woman off her feet and overpowering her in evil /
romantic sort of way.

"mmmmm"Stop... Don't, Stop... Don't
mmmmmm... Don't Stop"

Therefore some women often see it pleasurable to
be "consensually forced into pleasure via bondage", sometimes in order
to help them overcome their puritanical ingrained inhibitions.

"That mean man did it to me, he forced
me {to feel this pleasure}".

Then on the other hand, many women and men just
like being tied up. They enjoy the sensuality of the ropes, the time it
takes to apply and remove the ropes is simply a much needed answer to
the desire for foreplay and aftercare.

I'm told the latest research indicates that up
to 30% of American couples have used bondage as part of their intimate
and erotic activities.

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